Itinerary - Auckland to Honolulu and Home

Mar 2 Auckland Since this is our third trip to Auckland, we plan to walk around the harbor area, take a ferry from the old Ferry Building to one of the islands nearby (perhaps Rangiroto Island which is adormant volcano) IF we have time after receiving the educational supplies for the children of Kiribati.

We'll drop off some laundry at a place downtown that will do it for us (unless we get the magic all you can fit into a bag deal onboard at the end of cruise)! I also plan to have my nails done and pick up some wine for evenings on the balcony in the South Pacific. Just writing that gives me goose bumps. Imagine us in Tahiti and Bora Bora!

Then we'll get settled in our new cabin and check to see if any of our Roll Call friends joining us for this leg of the cruise have boarded yet. One of the great things about keeping the Roll Call list is that I have a list of cabin numbers and names... We've invited Dave and Kim to have a drink with us on our balcony, so will have to hunt them down! Sail-away is at 6 PM - hope to have our first 2nd leg Roll Call group gathering for that!

Mar 3 Tauranga 9 Am to 5 PM After a long day of touring here on March 1, we had planned to relax, have a leisurely breakfast and just walk around Tauranga. But...at a conference in Atlanta last October, I met a Nurse Administrator who lives in, of all places, Tauranga, NZ. She offered to take us on a personal tour and how could I say NO?? No way!!

Mar 4 At Sea

Guess you get the picture...more relaxation and a morning meeting of the folks who have brought gifts for the children of Kiribati

Mar 5 Cruising/cross International Date Line

Mar 6 Rarotonga, Cook Islands Our plans have changed since the original tour we planned left from a different island. New plans are to be picked up at the ship and taken to a beach for snorkeling and sunning by the Dive Centre folks (and, for me, using the underwater housing for my new camera for the first time).

Then we hope to take a public bus around the island for picture taking and meeting the people who speak English and Cook Island Maori.

Mar 7 At Sea

Mar 8 Papeete, Tahiti 7 AM to 6 PM 1/2 day tour with Patrick (planned by Isabel for 8 of us) on 2 wheel drive vehicles through the rain forest. Figured we'll get enough snorkeling tomorrow in Bora Bora so no beaching it today. Will return to the ship for lunch then go

to the huge market in Pepeete.

Mar 9 Bora Bora 8 AM to 4 PM Isabel took the lead in planning a full day tour with Nono - who is recommended highly by those on Cruise Critic who have taken this tour previously - including snorkeling, lunch on a motu (tiny island) and lots of promised marine life. We hav

e quite a nice size Roll Call group going with us on this one also.

Mar 10 At Sea

Mar 11 At Sea

Mar 12 Christmas Island 10 AM to 6 PM This day should be very special. I've been in touch with ForGranted - a non-profit organization formed by former Peace Corps volunteers to provide educational materials for the children of Kiribati (Kee Ree Bahs) - real name of the island. Many of our cruise mates (and we) are planning to bring gifts for the children. I've been put in touch with the Minister of Education and we will bring what she says they really need. Lots more details after we visit.

The big news is that after many emails and telephone calls, the executive director of For Granted and I have been able to arrange for Mercury to pick up a shipment of edu

cational materials in Auckland and deliver them to the island children! In addition, RCCL will accept a large shipment from For Granted in Miami in April and delivery it to Kiribati. We feel so grateful to have accomplished this for this island - one of the 10 poorest in the world. My contact person on the ship is the Hotel Director who will faciliate this project for us.

Mar 13 At Sea

Mar 14 At Sea

Mar 15 Hilo, Hawaii 7 AM to 5 PM We're sharing a van with Steve and Henny and Isabel and Tom to explore the Hilo side of Hawaii.We plan to visit the Akata Waterfall and the Botanical Gardens and stop whenever we wish!

We visited Volcanos National Park when we were here

some years ago so wanted to see more of the area on this visit.

Mar 16 HAPPY 47TH ANNIVERARY Arrive Honolulu 7 AM We will disembark after breakfast - not in a hurry to disembark, so will just enjoy our last meal and beginning of our anniversary onboard. Hopefully we can find a place to store our luggage (or use the ship's luggage valet service). We've made reservations to have lunch at the Plaza Club (an affiliate of the Carolina Club - our membership makes it possible for us to have complimentary meals). So our traditional anniversary dinner will be lunch! After lunch we'll head to the airport where we'll buy our usual pineapple to take home; AA Flight HNL 4:45 PM to DFW - a red eye, of course.

Mar 17 Arrive Home